Liquid meter



R. S. BASS ETT LIQUID METER FIGS.

Filed July 10 1922 7 3 6 2 l w 6/ W/ 1 m B m n 8 5 o 2 a n INVENTOR-(at- 6mm Patented May 27, 1924.

ROBEBi'l s: siissnin or nus-Faro," ivnw'ronii.

LIQUID Application filed m 10, 922; Serial Nam mas.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that LROBERT S. BAssET'r, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of the city of Buffalo, county of Erie, andState of New York, have 1nve-nted certain new and useful Improvements inLiquid Meters, of which the following is a full, clear, andexactdescrlpt on.

My invention relates to improvements 1n liquid meters in which theseveralprinc pal parts of the meter are held in their normal positionsrelative to each other at'all'usual pressures by frangible fastenmgsthat Wlll release them when the meter is subject to an extraordinarypressure such as that due to the freezing of the liquid it may contain;I l

The objects-of my present invention are principally to so designthefrangible fastenings that certain 'of the franglble portions will breakbefore certain other of the frangibleparts, thus controlling themovements of the principal parts of; the meter relative to each other,so that they will be displaced relatively in predetermined d1- rectionsafter failure 7 of the frangible portions. V I

My invention also provides for frangible parts so designed that they canbe manufactured at reduced'cost and for other advantages such; as thoseof easy replacement. Both of the constructions shown also have theadvantagesof having thefrangible portions, protected 'by thebody of themeter, so that the whole will present a; neat, appearance and; so thatany shocks to the meter,

' such as would be caused by dropping it,

would not be borne by the parts containing the frangible portions, aswould. be the case if such parts protruded to any extent from theassembled meter as has been necessary with any other inventions alongsimilar lines, 5

I; will now proceed'to definitely describe the mann r Whi h-I: ha e cried out my invention and then claim What I believe to be novel. I

In the drawingsgiFigure' 1 is a vertical section of my improvedmetenon-theline AA, Fig. 2, showing; thejjpifincrpa parts of the meterand thefasteningfs'ofs in normal position. I

Figure 2 is an upward view of the bottom of my improved meter, showingthe outer: topmain. casing 1.

fastenings with the frangible parts in normal position. i

Figure 3 is a vertical section of my improved meter taken on the sameplane as Figure l but after the meter has been frozen and the principalparts released in apredetermined direction.

I Figure? is a section of one of the frangiblejfastenings in nOl'malposition.

Figure 4t is a section on the same plane aslFig-ure 43 but afterthefrangible fastening has failed, due to the abnormal pressure withinthe body of the meter;

The outer casingof the meter is composed of" two detachable main casingpartsl and 2, which are held together by bolts such as 20 'and21'passing through holes 3,3and l, 4, l

in meeting flanges 5 and 6"formed in same, and between-which issupported the liquid measuring mechanism, which in this drawing is shownof the well known nutating disc type. The register hood 7 is located ontop of outer top main casing. '1 'andcontains a register not sho'wn. Themeasuring chamber is'coniposed of lowerhalf'S formed with;supportingflange 9, and upper half 10 formed with supporting flange 11.The nntating measuring disc 12 is enclosed and loosely supported betweenthe halves 9 and 10 of the measuring chamber. The intermediate gearplate 13 is mounted on top of measuringchamber half 10. In, gear plate 13 is, rigidlyfastenedintermediate gear post fer-mediate gear115 andpinion {16. Toothed st'uffingbox, gear. 17,"which in normalposittionmeshes witlrtoot'lied pini'on16, is rigidly mounted on thelower end of stufling box shaft 18,.which isrotatably mountedinstuffing-box 19,1loca-ted in the upperwall of Meeting flanges 5; and 6are fastened together while iii-nor- 'nal relation by clampingybolts 2Oand'Ql lfiton which is loosely supported toothedinpassing; throughfiange holes 3 and 'tjwhich are; larger; in vdiameter than bolts" 20 and21 On theupper,endofi'bolts 20 aha-21 areclampingnuts 24. In holes inthe lower eird'sof; bolts-2O andz2l-zare frangible shear= mg, materialof which they are :made; or both', beingjsuch' that shearingapins25inbolts 20 require a greater force before releasing than the pins 26in bolts 21. Mounted on the bottoms of bolts 20 and 21 and closelyfitting same, are supporting washers 27-, located between flange 6 andshearing pins 25 and 26.

Having described above a construction of my improved meter, I will nowdescribe its advantages and action.

When the parts of the meter are assembled the meeting flanges 5 and 6are fastened together by the clamping bolts 20 and 21 placed in holes 3and 4. When the nuts 24 are screwed down on bolts 20 and 21, the ends offrangible shearing pins 25 and 26 engage the outside wall of metercaslng 2 and prevent the bolts from turning, whlch makes the pins servea double purpose and cuts down the length'of the bolt very much ascompared with a bolt fitted with some frangible device, and also with ahead of the customary type. This combination use of the pin is novel asapplied to liquid meters and is one of the important. points in myinvention, as it cuts down the cost of the bolts 20 and 21 to a verygreat extent and 1t makes a neat and compact fastening. The shearingpins 25 and 26 also bear on supporting washers 27 which in turn bear onthe bottom of flange 6; the parts of the meter and the frangiblefasteningsbeing as shown in Figure 1. The meter isthen put in serviceand left in operation. In due course of time the liquid in the meter mayfreeze. As the pipes enteringand leaving the meter are smaller than themeter they freeze solid first so that as the larger body of liquid inthe meter freezes it cannot escape through the pipes and the pressure inthe interior of the meter gradually increases until the outer maincasing parts 1 and 2 of the meter are forced apart, being allowed toseparate through the shearing of the pins 26, which causes the maincasing parts 1 and 2 to separate obliquely, the motion being generallyas if hinged around pins 25, which being stronger than pins 26 do notshear entirely through but give slightly as required for the separationof main casing parts 1 and 2. The parts of the meter and the frangibleclamping devices take the canted positions shown in Figure 2, and pinion16 is moved safely away from stuffing box gear 17 without damage toeither, which might have occurred should shearing pins 25 have let gobefore shearing pins 26, as might have been the case if all the shearingpins had been of approximately the same strength. The two halves of themeasuring chamber 8 and 10 also separate, releasing the disc 12. Allsubmerged "parts of the meter are thus relieved from undue strain ordistortion and the meter may be re-assembled by replacing the shearingpins only and be as good as new.

While I have shown my invention as adapted to a disc meter for purposesof illustration, I do not wish to confine it to this style of meteronly, as it obviously may be adapted to many other styles of liquidmeters with equally good results. Also,

while I have shown the frangiblefasten ing in only two forms it may bemade otherwise without departing from the spirit of my invention. V

Having described my invention what I claim. and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A releasable fastening device comprising two separable parts havingholes through them, clamping bolts passing through said holes, ashearing pin mounted in a hole in one bolt and another shearing pin of alesser strength mounted in a hole in another bolt so the parts whenunder abnormal pressure will separate in a predeter- 3. A liquid metercomprising two separable parts of the meter casing having holes throughthem, clamping bolts passing through said holes; a shearing pin mountedin a hole in one bolt and another shearing pin of a lesser strengthmounted in a hole in another bolt, so the parts ofthe meter when underabnormal pressure will separate in a predetermined canted positionin'relation to each other; the purpose described;

l. A liquid meter comprising two separable parts of the meter casinghaving holes through them, supporting washers, clamping bolts passingthrough both said holes substantially as and for and said washers,shearing pins of predetermined different degrees of frangibility mountedin holes in said bolts and bearing on said washers, so that the parts ofthe meter when under abnormal pressure will separate in a in relation toeach other; substantially as and for the purpose described.

ROBT. S. BASSETT. Witnesses:

EARL R. RYDER, GEO. B. BASSETT.

predetermined canted position

